Former Obama adviser Jon Favreau has publicly expressed concerns about President Biden's mental fitness, echoing the sentiments of actor George Clooney who recently urged Biden to step down from the 2024 race.
In a stark departure from his previous silence, former Obama adviser Jon Favreau has voiced his apprehensions about President Biden's mental fitness, citing observations made at a recent Hollywood fundraiser. Favreau's candid remarks come on the heels of an equally critical op-ed by actor George Clooney, who implored Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
Favreau, who served as a key member of the "Obama bros" during Barack Obama's presidency, attended the same fundraiser as Clooney and witnessed firsthand what he described as a concerning decline in Biden's cognitive abilities. "It was not surprising to any of us who were at the fundraiser," Favreau stated during an appearance on CNN. "Clooney was exactly right, and every single person I talked to at the fundraiser thought the same thing, except for the people working for Joe Biden."
'Obama Bro' Breaks Silence on Biden's Mental Fitness, Echoes Clooney's Concerns
Favreau's observations corroborated Clooney's depiction of a frail and disoriented Biden at the event. "He wasn't the Joe 'big F-ing deal' Biden of 2010. He wasn't even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate," Clooney wrote in his op-ed.
Favreau expressed agreement with Clooney's assessment, arguing that Democratic leaders should confront the reality of Biden's cognitive decline rather than downplay it. "Democratic Party leaders need to stop trying to convince Americans they 'didn't see what we just saw,'" Clooney implored. "They need to stop trying to ignore the warning signs."
'Obama Bro' Breaks Silence on Biden's Mental Fitness, Echoes Clooney's Concerns
Favreau echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the need for honesty and transparency. "I said, 'Well, there is a debate in a week. Either he'll do well in the debate, and we'll think he was just tired because he flew all the way back from Europe, and that'll be that, or he'll be like this at the debate and then the whole country will be talking about it. So, here we are," Favreau recounted.
Favreau's public statements follow a broader trend of "Obama bros" expressing their concerns about Biden's mental fitness. In the latest episode of their "Pod Save America" podcast, Favreau joined fellow former Obama advisers Tommy Vietor and Jon Lovett in a candid discussion of Biden's recent performance in the first presidential debate and a subsequent interview with ABC News.
'Obama Bro' Breaks Silence on Biden's Mental Fitness, Echoes Clooney's Concerns
Vietor and Lovett shared Favreau's reservations, describing Biden's debate performance as "very hard to watch" and his interview with ABC News as "vague" and "unsatisfactory." "The explanations are kind of vague... That doesn't do enough to assuage our concerns about what we saw that night," Lovett argued.
Despite growing calls for him to step down, Biden has remained steadfast in his intention to run for a second term in 2024. His campaign has dismissed concerns about his mental fitness as unfounded and has reaffirmed its commitment to a "full steam ahead" approach.
